


No Patches, No Masks

by Hermaline75



Series: Thor in glasses [7]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Anal Sex, Biting, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-19 14:40:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2392046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hermaline75/pseuds/Hermaline75
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki tries to convince his boyfriend, who is clearly far too shy to enjoy parties, that Halloween is a great idea.</p><p>Meanwhile, Thor tries to convince his boyfriend, who is clearly far too cool to enjoy dressing up, that Halloween is a great idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Patches, No Masks

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't think of a relevant glasses word for this one. Also it's really silly.

"I hope you're prepared this year," Tony said out of the blue. "Because I have something very special planned."

"Hmm?"

"Come on. It's October. The annual race for Halloween costume glory is now officially on."

"Oh, that."

Tony took a step back.

"Who are you and that have you done with Loki 'Halloween isn't just for Christmas' Laufeyson? You're normally sketching designs by this point. And this year is doubly fun because we finally both have other halves to dress up with..."

Loki sighed. That was the problem. He did love Halloween. Ridiculously so. It was the only night of the year when adults were socially encouraged to dress up. And he loved making sure that he was the one in the best costume.

But he knew that this year Tony was going to extend their traditional competition to include their partners.

And somehow...

"Yeah, I'm not sure Thor and I will be coming."

Tony's face fell.

"Not coming? What do you mean, not coming?"

"I don't think he's that into Halloween, that's all."

"Think, you don't know. You were together last Halloween. What did he do for it?"

"I have no idea. We didn't exactly...talk very often at that point in our relationship. We weren't official then. We mostly had just a physical thing. But I do know that he's not so fond of parties. So he might not want to come to the glorious annual Arts Department Halloween Shin-dig."

"No. Not happening. I tell you what, since the burden of organising the event has come to me, I'll give my plus one a couple of extra plus ones and that girl he likes can come too."

"Who, Jane? She's...not so into parties either."

"No, but her little friend is a fire cracker from what I've heard, and will totally make her and Thor go, and then the costume contest can go ahead as planned, and Pepper and I can be victorious."

He was already texting Pepper to ask her to ask Jane.

"What's the theme this year?" Loki asked, resigned.

"Guess."

"No."

"Oh, you are no fun. Fine, as it's our turn to host, I've gone with Literature. Any literature. Don't want to confuse the modern language departments. And now I have a class to teach."

He hurried off, leaving Loki with a head full of ideas and the insurmountable problem of convincing Thor.

\--

"So, how come you hate Halloween?"

Thor looked up in surprise from his sandwich.

"I...don't?"

Darcy flopped down next to him. 

"Right. OK, it's just Jane and I just got invited to the fancy professors' costume party but apparently we need to convince you to go because you are some kind of Halloween Grinch. Loki said so."

Thor was pretty sure Loki hadn't used quite those words.

"Wait, what professors' party?"

"Every year the department of liberal arts have a big Halloween fest. Totally cool, everyone dresses up and there's a buffet and wine and stuff. It's usually staff and plus ones only, but because Tony Stark is running the show this year, he's sneaking Jane and I in on the sly. The deal is, we have to convince you to go too, so..."

She turned wide eyes upon him, clasping her hands in front of her. He wasn't sure if she was aware that the action meant her arms pushed her breasts together or not. If he was interested in women, he'd probably be drooling round about now.

"Please say you'll go? I have a great costume from a few years ago that I can totally recycle."

Thor considered it. He loved Halloween. It was the one night of the year when he didn't have to be _him_. With the right clothes, he could basically be anyone. And a nice, sophisticated adult party sounded great. But...

"So Loki said I don't like Halloween? OK. Well, I'll think about it. It's weeks away anyway."

She didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but he was firm.

Obviously, Loki was trying to use him as his out. Thor couldn't imagine him dressing up. He probably hated the annual party, probably used the same costume every year. But if he could claim Thor didn't want to go, maybe he could avoid it.

And he didn't mind getting Loki out of something he didn't want to go to.

Really, he didn't.

\--

They'd been living together, officially together, for three weeks.

And that was nice. Really nothing had changed. There was just more stuff around. Boxes of old science magazines and piles of t-shirts and scattered lab reports.

Loki was considering his options while he waited for the coffee to brew.

If he asked, Thor would say yes. That was the problem. No matter whether he really wanted to go or not, he would say yes and he wouldn't say if he was uncomfortable. So then Loki would be uncomfortable because he'd be worried about Thor...

He practically burnt his hand trying to pour.

He couldn't even rely on Jane to get the truth from him. Tony was right. He would be convinced and far too easily.

The sound of keys in the lock brought him back and he stared determinedly at an essay plan that one of his students had asked him to look over.

"Hey," Thor said, dumping his keys. "I'm starving. Is there still pasta in the fridge from Tuesday? You want some?"

Loki had a bowl pushed into his hands and a kiss pressed to his temple before he realised he hadn't responded. 

"Sorry," he said. "I was miles away. How was science?"

"Fine. How were words?"

"Fine."

They ate in silence for a little while. Which meant Thor was waiting for him to say something. Which meant Darcy or Jane had got to him first and forewarned him.

Well, he wasn't going to say anything. He could pretend it was no big deal.

Until Thor brought it up instead.

"Do you want to go?" he asked. "We could go."

"Do you want to go?"

"I mean, I guess. But we don't have to."

"No, we don't."

"Well... Alright. But it's not like we have to decide now. We've got a couple of weeks."

Loki was internally screaming. He needed to know now, otherwise he'd just be disappointed later if his costume plans were pointless.

But instead he just smiled and agreed that yes, they had ages.

He tried really hard not to doodle tailcoats in the margins of the essay outline.

\--

"So, what are you going as?" Jane asked. "To the Halloween thing?"

"I don't know. What are you going as?"

"It's a secret."

"Well, that's not fair. You were going to have mine out of me. But I don't even know if we're going yet."

Jane seemed crestfallen.

"Oh, right," she said. "Cos Darcy said that she'd convinced you and I won't really know anyone else..."

"I want to go. I do. I'm just... Do you really think it's Loki's scene? Playing dress up with his colleagues?"

She considered this.

"I don't know. Maybe the theatrics would appeal? He takes time in his appearance. Maybe he would like it."

Maybe. Thor couldn't say he was totally sure though. He should bring it up again.

He tried when Loki got home from a late seminar that evening, but really he was too tired to do much other than eat and go to bed.

Thor played with his hair a little as he drifted off, enjoying the little sighs he got in return. A nice Halloween in wouldn't be so bad. They could watch whatever bad horror films were on TV, snuggled up on the couch and drink hot chocolate and bring the blanket through from the bed. It would be really nice. Probably.

\--

A Halloween in would be awful. Loki hadn't had a Halloween in since he was grounded at 17.

"I brought you coffee," Tony half-sang. "Pumpkin spice latte. Tis the season, after all. So, what is your offering this year?"

"What's yours?"

"Ah-ah. If we're playing that game, it's clues only."

"Fine. Who wrote your character?"

"The greatest writer of all time."

Well, that didn't help. Tony's 'greatest writer' could be anyone.

"And you and Pepper are a couple in the story?"

"Briefly, yes. And you and Thor are...?"

Loki winced around a sip of latte.

"Still not confirmed as coming."

"Oh, come on. I need numbers. I need ticket money. Deadline's the 20th. That gives you only five days."

"Then I guess I'll let you know."

That was not a satisfactory answer. Loki found himself drawing capes. He could see Thor in the costume he was half-designing. And he'd look great in it.

It was most annoying.

\--

Thor's mobile beeped in class. And beeped again. And several more times before he apologised to the seminar group and fished it out of his jacket pocket to turn it off.

A few hours later, he switched it back on to find seven messages, all from Tony. Three of them were pictures.

"Why aren't you coming to my party?"  
"It'll be fun, I promise."  
"Come on, man. It's Loki's favourite night of the year."

Thor couldn't tell if he was joking or not. He could be being sarcastic. It was hard to tell in text form.

"I'll prove it to you."

He opened the first picture and almost dropped his phone in shock.

That was Loki alright. And he was wearing a floor length gown and horns and had painted his skin green even down the deep v-neck of the dress.

The next one. Loki with his hair pulled back under a three-cornered hat, with a white stripe of make-up across his face.

Thor eagerly opened the last one to find Loki standing regally in white, his hair bleached, or maybe under a wig, nails sinking into a fur stole around his shoulders.

God, he was beautiful.

\--

"Sent Thor some encouragement," the message said.

Loki groaned. What did that mean? Was Thor being bullied into this? He wanted to go, but not if Thor had been coerced into it.

But no. Thor was already home by the time he got in.

And looking equal parts flustered and happy, strangely enough.

"So, er, Tony was texting me earlier..." he began, trailing off into nothing.

"Oh, God. What did he say?"

"Well, actually, he sent some pictures."

He couldn't fault Tony's choices. The ones he'd chosen had been the best ones from the past five years.

"You really like Halloween, huh?" Thor was saying.

"Yeah. But it's totally fine if you don't want to go."

Thor frowned. "Why wouldn't I want to go?"

"Well, there'll be people there for a start. And you don't like... You don't like people."

"I like people fine. I'm maybe a little shy but I like people. If either of us don't like people, it's you."

That was a fair point.

"But anyway, even if I didn't, this is clearly important to you so I would want to go anyway, even if I didn't already, which I do."

"Alright, then we'll go."

"Alright then."

It felt as though they'd had a fight. They hadn't, but it felt that way. Thor rubbed the back of his neck a little bit.

"You've worn a bunch of dresses over the years..." he said. "I... Er, you look good in them."

"I like shocking the tenured professors. It's always pleasing to cause a little scandal. Which is your favorite?"

"The white one. With the fur. I don't know what it is, but it's... Yeah."

Oh, this was fun. As far as Loki knew, Thor had never looked at anyone presenting as feminine with anything other than a chaste, entirely romantically disinterested gaze.

"The theme that year was childhood. I'm the witch. As in Lion and Wardrobe. I was washing spray dye and glitter out of my hair for weeks afterwards."

"Do you still have it?"

He probably hadn't meant to sound quite so eager.

"No, I tend to borrow what I can and sell what I've had to actually purchase afterwards. I never repeat a costume."

Thor looked profoundly disappointed.

"You like it," Loki said, smiling. "You think I'm hot as a girl."

Thor blushed. "I think you're hot regardless of gender. So, yeah. I guess. Don't tease me about it."

"Not right now, no. We have costumes to plan."

\--

Thor had not expected this much enthusiasm. He hadn't expected to have every inch of his body measured. He certainly hadn't expected Loki to drag an ancient sewing machine out of his closet.

Nowhere in the apartment was expressly off-limits, but by the same token, Thor didn't want to pry. And that was the closet Loki kept his handcuffs in so... He hadn't gone rooting around in there.

"I tend to use it only once a year, so there's no point in getting a new fancy one," Loki was saying before handing him a piece of paper. "And that's what I was thinking."

It couldn't be called an expert likeness, but Thor at least recognised that it was meant to be him, wearing all red with a swirling cloak and a huge skull head-piece.

"You're going to have to help me out," he said. "I don't know this one."

"Gaston Leroux's 'Phantom of the Opera.' You know, the masquerade bit with the Red Death outfit."

"So you'd be Christine?"

"Exactly. Not as flashy or recognisable as I sometimes am, but..."

Thor cringed at what he'd have to say now.

"I'm really sorry, Loki. I can't wear masks. My glasses, I just can't. I could wear contacts, but my eyes would probably go all weird..."

Loki looked at him for a moment, cocking his head to one side.

"I suppose that means Long John Silver is out too?"

"I can't be anything with a mask or an eyepatch. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. The feather dress to be Flint the parrot was never going to work. And I hadn't figured out how to get rid of one of your legs."

"So what was the third option?"

He heard the sigh, even as Loki tried to hide it.

"Option three was leaving it up to me. I'll think of something. Just no masks and no patches. No problem."

\--

Big problem.

Once Loki had confirmed they were going and paid for their tickets, he was painfully aware that Tony was watching him for clues.

Clues to costumes he hadn't even thought of yet.

It was desperation really that led to him asking Darcy to stay after class, much to her evident confusion, and ask for her opinion.

"Well it's Halloween," she said. "You should be spooky. Ooh, you could be Dr Frankenstein and the creature."

"Does the creature wear glasses?"

"No, I meant you could be..."

Apparently his stares still had some intimidation effect. But she might be onto something...

"I am going to ask you a very strange question now. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this never goes beyond this room and certainly not to Thor."

She nodded.

"Who was the hotter Dracula? Bela Lugosi, Gary Oldman or Christopher Lee?"

Darcy grinned. "None of the above. Gerard Butler."

"Oh, you would like that travesty..."

"No, I think it's shit. Er. Sorry, terrible. But he's hot, I stand by that."

"Hmm. Thank you. See you next week."

\--

Thor was banished from the living room. He sat in the bedroom reading, hearing the faint whirring of the sewing machine.

Eventually the door opened.

"OK, we have two hours before we need to go. Do not open this door until I say you can. Your costume's on the table."

It was weird not knowing what he was going to be dressed as. He took the time to make sure the curtains were definitely closed before changing.

Loki had left him a full tan suit, shirt, waistcoat, cravat, everything, tailored for him. It seemed quite painfully ordinary though and it gave him no clue at all. It was faintly old fashioned, in a slightly Victorian way. 

He wished there was a mirror out here.

It didn't seem right. It didn't seem enough.

He tapped on the bedroom door.

"What?"

"I'm...dressed."

"I'm not. Just sit tight. I'll be out to do your hair and give you your accessories in just a minute. And take off your glasses."

"Why?"

"Because you're not allowed to see me until I'm ready."

"We're not getting married, you know."

"Of course not. This is far more important."

Thor laughed. OK, fine. This was important to Loki so he obediently removed them and let the blur descend.

The door opened.

"Can you see anything?" Loki asked.

Thor tried the best he could.

"You're wearing black and red," he managed.

Loki sat him down and teased his hair back, spritzing him with hair spray and tucking various things into pockets he didn't realise he even had.

"Alright, pocket watch, garlic bulb, pistol... Know who you are yet?"

"Why do I have garlic?"

"For the same reason that I am tucking these stakes into your belt."

"Oh, I'm that guy. Van Helsing. And that makes you..."

Loki slid his glasses onto his face and came into focus. 

All black suit. Red-lined cape. Hair loose and flowing, slightly curled. He'd even paled his face down even further somehow.

"God, you look incredible."

Loki smiled, showing the fangs fixed over his teeth.

"And those look... Really real, wow."

"Individual fangs. They slide on over your real teeth and they have, like, gel in them so they stay in place and I can eat and drink and speak normally... I should really have done my nails, but I didn't have the time."

Thor stood up and slid his hands round Loki's waist.

"I kinda want to stake you right now. And not with wood."

The fangs looked weirdly hot when Loki laughed.

"Later, Slayer. After we've triumphed."

\--

"Vampires, really?" Tony said from behind a horse mask. "So obvious..."

Loki looked him up and down.

"You're... Eeyore?"

"No. Hang on, when Pepper comes back, you'll get it."

She looked great, Loki had to admit. She was dressed head to toe in shades of purple and silver, her hair piled high and sparkling wings on her back.

"Ah," Loki said. "Shakespeare. Bottom and Titania. Well, that makes sense. She's a queen and magic is the only thing that can get you laid."

"Yeah, well, you're a creature of the night that feeds on the lifeforce of others and Thor is an academic with a heart of gold, so you're doing pretty well too."

"Very good. So, who's judging this year?"

"Secret ballot. You got to put your name in though."

"And you already have?"

"First thing I did. Good luck. You'll need it."

\--

Thor had found the buffet and Jane, who had come as Alice in Wonderland.

"She was my favourite when I was a kid. You know, other worlds and dreams and stuff. I was really into it. And I match Darcy this way."

"Where is she?"

"She's the Mad Hatter over there arguing with whoever that professor is meant to be. She's having fun. I think she's appreciating being around adults and not drunk kids away from home for the first time."

They managed to find a corner to claim as their own. Thor liked guessing all the costumes, though some of them were a little obscure.

He didn't hear Loki coming up behind him until hands were sliding over his shoulders.

"I voted for us on your behalf."

"Voted?"

"Costume contest. Come stand closer to the mic. We need to be able to look surprised when we win."

"You're very confident," Jane said.

"Of course. Look at us."

She nodded carefully. "Yes, you both look very handsome."

\--

Loki managed not to narrow his eyes at her.

"Who do you think is our competition?" he asked instead.

"Well, Pepper looks lovely, but Tony is not donkey-like enough. But that pirate over there looks pretty cool. And I'm not sure who that lady is, but her make-up is incredible."

"Hmm..."

He steered them subtly closer, making what would have been eye-contact with Tony if it weren't for the mask. His boss, head of English was laughing and shaking his head at them. But if they didn't want competitiveness, they shouldn't hold a competition.

Blah blah blah, wonderful party, blah blah blah, the costume contest. Loki felt his hand tightening on Thor's arm.

"As usual, the standard has been extraordinary. But there can only be one winner. Although, actually, a group costume has triumphed this year."

It was one or other of them. It had to be.

"So, many congratulations to the entire Slavonic Studies department for their portrayal of the Fellowship of the Ring, especially Madeline Travjeva as Gandalf."

"What?" Loki said, hearing Tony simultaneously have the same reaction.

"You must have miscounted," Tony said. "It's always one of us."

"It's been one or other of us for the past five years."

Their protests fell on deaf ears, making the taxi ride home very awkward.

"It's internal politics is what it is," Tony said. "They don't like us because we always beat them."

Thor was doing his best to distract Loki from his annoyance by slowly stroking his sides and it was irritatingly effective. By the time they got home, he was almost placated.

\--

"Come on, Count," Thor murmured as they climbed the stairs. "I want to find out what it's like to kiss someone with fangs."

Weird, it turned out. A good weird.

He stilled Loki's hands when he moved to take the cape off.

"No, don't. I...I like it."

"You want me to leave it on?"

"Yeah. You look great in it."

"How about nothing but the cape?"

"And the fangs."

\--

Loki pushed Thor down on the bed and crawled up his body, letting the cape drag behind him.

He'd convinced Thor that the rest of the clothes should probably be put out of harm's way. He'd had to fight for the waistcoat, but he had Thor exactly where he wanted him.

And if he was playing on Thor's new-found thing for vampires a little, that was up to him.

He ran his tongue up Thor's chest and sucked a slight mark on his neck.

"Yeah, do it," Thor moaned.

"Hmm?"

"Bite me."

Loki chose a spot on Thor's shoulder that he thought wouldn't be visible when fully dressed and sank the fangs in.

\--

Thor yelped.

"OK, no, terrible idea. That hurts."

Loki stopped immediately.

"I'm sorry. But you did ask me to."

"Yeah, I know, not your fault. Ignore all my sex suggestions from now on."

"Oh, Thor. Sometimes you have wonderful sex ideas. Like right now, I'm sure you're realising that in order to prevent yourself becoming one of the undead, you're going to have to run me through. Several times probably."

"Well, I could probably do that, even as the poison runs through my veins."

He lay Loki down, taking a moment to enjoy the sight of his pale skin against the red lining of the cape, before he thought he ought to take his glasses off.

There had probably been a point where he went from needing to be able to see to open Loki up to being able to do it by feel alone. He wasn't quite sure when it had happened. He felt that his other senses were heightened. Every gasp and sigh echoed in his mind and every muscle stutter rippled through him in turn.

"I believe I'm well and truly at your mercy, Dr Van Helsing..."

"What does that mean?"

"It means get up here and stake me properly."

Thor's hands slipped a little on the silky cape material and he only just managed not to fall on Loki as he tried to make it back up the bed to kiss him.

Loki writhed as Thor slid home, arching his back and crying out as though in pain.

"You OK?"

"No. You just defeated my terrible evil. You are really bad at roleplaying. I'll have to teach you better one of these days."

"Sorry."

"That's alright. You're very good at the sex part."

\--

It wasn't a lie. Loki was feeling the stresses and anger of the evening melting away under the twin assaults of Thor's thrusts and the heat of his mouth, his tongue flicking over the fangs.

He hooked his legs behind Thor's back, angling upwards to help out as Thor tried to rub against his prostate. Loki felt the grin against his lips when a moan of pleasure escaped him.

The cape was pleasantly smooth beneath his back as he managed to snake his hand down between them to take hold of his own cock. Thor was being particularly energetic, like he really was trying to force an evil spirit out of Loki's body.

Not that Loki was complaining as he felt himself growing close.

"Thor... Thor, I'm going to..."

He yelped as Thor suddenly wrapped both arms around him, pulling him into his lap and thrusting upwards. The man didn't even lose his his rhythm.

"Give up and let go, come on."

Loki screamed as at the very last second, Thor nipped gently at the crook of his neck.

\--

With Loki's flesh muffling his groans, Thor came, the spasms of his boyfriend's body pushing him over the edge.

"You bit me!" Loki said, sounding more surprised than annoyed.

"Sorry. Only a little bit... Heat of the moment. I figured maybe Van Helsing hadn't quite managed to defeat Dracula and was already succumbing to his power..."

Loki pulled down and rolled on top of him, cape draping around them and snuggling into his chest, apparently not caring about getting cleaned up just yet.

"You realise that probably means Van Helsing will have to have another go at staking Dracula tomorrow morning?" he asked, tracing his fingers up Thor's arms.

Thor chuckled and kissed the top of Loki's head.

"I expect he can only keep trying until he's successful. For the good of humanity. And then we can eat our weight in discounted chocolate."

Loki leant up to kiss him properly.

"Sounds perfect. Be a dear and help me get the fangs out?"

Thor tried to pretend he wasn't disappointed as Loki slipped the cape off. He was rather pleased when he didn't bother putting anything else on when he came back from the bathroom, though.

Maybe he could really get into this roleplay thing.

And maybe he could convince Loki to repeat the occasional costume. In private, of course.

Yeah. That sounded fun.


End file.
